Good Old Joe
It was a special night for an ordinary guy.
Bygone baseball by C. Philip Francis
His name was William “Sportshirt Bill” Veeck, as in wreck, and owned three different major league teams at various times. He drove the composed and dignified baseball management all but crazy with his sometimes wild promotions and stunts, and was always looking for a gimmick that would draw and entertain the paying customer. The peg-legged Veeck (he lost the leg as a Marine during fighting in the South Pacific) is best known for sending a midget up to bat in 1951, and there were others such as having the fans manage the team by holding up a variety of printed cards including bunt, steal, swing, and pull the pitcher.
Before players became millionaires a team often honored their star players, and an occasional member of the front office, with accolades and gifts such as money, a golf bag, or a car. In 1948 a World War II veteran named Joe Early was employed as a security guard for a plant in Cleveland when he and his wife June noticed a letter sent to the editor. The writer suggested the Cleveland Baseball Club have a “night” for Veeck because of how much the ball team has helped the city’s economy. Suspecting that any baseball team owner must “have everything” the couple asked, “Why should Veeck be given even more?” They quickly wrote out their own letter suggesting a “Joe Earley Night.”
Their letter said in part, “I pay my rent and my landlord spends it on things that keep business stimulated…A lot of people depend on me so let us all get together, and send in your contributions for that new car for “Good Old Joe Earley Night.” Signed: Joe Earley, Cleveland, Ohio. The sports editor of the Cleveland Press was discussing Joe’s letter with a team official over lunch when Veeck joined them. Bill read the letter, and quickly said, “Great! Why don’t we have a night for Joe?” The Barnum of Baseball Ballyhoo was at it again.
It was a Tuesday evening in mid-September, 1948 when 60,405 people walked into Municipal Stadium to make a major league season attendance record of 2,620,629. Not only did Cleveland take the pennant that season after a 28-year drought by beating the Red Sox in a one-game playoff, the Tribe downed the Boston Braves in six games to win the World Championship.
The first 20,000 ladies that entered the park were treated to a Princess Aloha lavender orchid that had been flown from Hawaii on a United Airlines DC-3 costing Veeck $30,000. After the PA announcer told the big crowd, “As a thank you to all you fans, we’re going to have a ‘Good Old Joe Earley Night’ symbolizing an average fan”, Mr. and Mrs. Earley were asked to walk to the on-field mike for the pre-game program. It was Veeck’s idea to start with silly gag gifts, and then move on to the more expensive items. The local merchants contributed, people sent in money, a club official donated an outhouse, and someone contributed an acre of - worthless swamp.
The outhouse was brought out after the Earleys were told they would get “a new house in early American architecture.” When the “fully equipped automobile” was called for, out came a circus-type Model T Ford packed with pretty girls and fenders that immediately fell off. The Earleys were given chickens, cows, a pig with piglets, one goat, a sway-back horse, toy cars, and two dogs. Other fans left the park that night with cabbages, rabbits, a live turkey, stepladders, and ten-pound cakes of ice.
Then it was time for the honored guests to receive their serious bounty: A phonograph, television, refrigerator, washing machine, luggage, clothing, a wristwatch, books, and finally a yellow Ford convertible with a one-year supply of oil and gas. In addition, the Earleys were given $5400 in cash - one thousand dollars from Veeck with the remaining from donations – and club owner Veeck topped it all with a lifetime gold pass good for any American League baseball game.
It was estimated that the young couple’s loot totaled $15,000 or $125,000 in today’s value, and all it cost Mr. and Mrs. Earley was a three-cent stamp. As Joe sat “in shock the whole night”, there was a ball game to play in which the Indians scalped the White Sox 11-0. Veeck had the Earleys as his dinner guests after the game, and then came the big question – what can we do with all the animals!
The farm critters quickly found new homes, the circus car went to the American Legion, and the money went to the Cancer Fund as Joe’s longtime hero, Babe Ruth, had died of cancer only weeks before. Joe kept the convertible and named the dogs Bill and Vicki after Mr. and Mrs. Bill Veeck.
A spread on Joe Earley Night appeared in Life Magazine, the lucky plant guard was deluged with job offers, and both Joe and June were the toast of Cleveland – for a while. The pass was invalid for any World Series games, and Joe could not even find any tickets. Their landlady did not like dogs, and would not allow an antenna installed for the new television.
In the next 40 years Joe began and operated his own company, lost his wife June, remarried, and died of cancer on June 1, 1988. He did use the lifetime pass, saw fewer games as he got older, and the permit was passed down to a nephew. Joe was often asked, “Are you the REAL Joe Earley?” He once summed up that very special night, “Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen. One thing is for certain. It never hurts to ask."